A SpaceX Mars rocket prototype just exploded. It was still a success

[LuckyDuck]

The biggest advantage Musk has over NASA is he isn't accountable to congress or budget people or investigation people when something like this goes wrong. He can just take the data, take credit for the successful parts, and learn from the explosion.

A SpaceX Mars rocket prototype just exploded. It was still a success

A giant experimental rocket built by Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully soared eight miles above the company's testing facilities in South Texas on Wednesday and came back down as planned, before crashing into the ground in an enormous plume of flames and smoke.
The hulking rocket didn't have anyone onboard. It was an early developmental model of Starship, a 160-foot-tall spaceship proposed by Musk that he hopes will be used for hauling massive satellites into Earth's orbit, shuttling people between cities at breakneck speeds and — eventually — establishing a human settlement on Mars.

It was a success because there was no one aboard the thing.

 

[martybegan]

The biggest advantage Musk has over NASA is he isn't accountable to congress or budget people or investigation people when something like this goes wrong. He can just take the data, take credit for the successful parts, and learn from the explosion.

A SpaceX Mars rocket prototype just exploded. It was still a success

A giant experimental rocket built by Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully soared eight miles above the company's testing facilities in South Texas on Wednesday and came back down as planned, before crashing into the ground in an enormous plume of flames and smoke.
The hulking rocket didn't have anyone onboard. It was an early developmental model of Starship, a 160-foot-tall spaceship proposed by Musk that he hopes will be used for hauling massive satellites into Earth's orbit, shuttling people between cities at breakneck speeds and — eventually — establishing a human settlement on Mars.

It was a success because there was no one aboard the thing.

That was the intent. They knew they were probably going to lose it, they did it anyway because they could, and they will learn far more from this than 5-6 attempts that didn't reach failure.

 

[22lcidw]

That vessel is a leap frog in technology. Holding up to one hundred people is impressive. NASA is a great organization. However, it has become to cumbersome and archaic in its structure and the forced rules and laws it must follow. And people who work for it and try to get things done must transgress this handicap to achieve it.